Warning: My old boss said to skip the pilot holes on face frames, cost me 3 hours and a $60 board
Back in 2019 I worked at a shop in Dayton and the lead guy, Rick, kept saying pilot holes were a waste of time on soft maple face frames. I listened to him for 6 months until a pocket screw split a rail right through the show face on a $60 board. Rick shrugged and said it was the wood's fault. Anyone else get burned by a shortcut from someone who had been doing it 20 years?
Had a guy at a cabinet shop in my hometown, Dale, who swore you never needed to drill for hinges because modern screws cut their own way in. Worked fine on pine, then we got a run of hard maple and every door was cracking at the stile. He blamed the supplier for sending green wood. Funny thing is these old timers always have a story ready for why it's never their method that's wrong. Six months is a long time to trust somebody just because they've been at it longer than you. Wrecking one board stings but at least you figured it out before he cost you a whole kitchen.